One Sweeeet GSA Day

All over the country, LGBT youth, allies, organizations, and schools celebrated the amazing work of Gay-Straight Alliance clubs. Iowa Pride Network[2], the coordinator of National GSA Day, even baked the cake above to honor all of you!

The day wasn't just about partying, though. GSA Network joined Iowa Pride Network, GLSEN, and Campus Pride to host a TweetChat for GSAs to discuss the issues they face, the scale of their work, and their vision for the movement. Thoughts on this year's most important issues for GSAs ranged from the practical -- transitioning leadership when seniors graduate -- to loftier goals, like creating schools that are safer and more supportive of trans students. (Pssst, GSA Network has resources for both of these: Transitioning Leadership[3] & our Beyond the Binary[4] campaign.)

The TweetChat also prompted folks to think about how GSAs can ensure they address the needs of all youth, and how GSAs can form coalitions with other groups working for social justice. Geoffrey Winder, GSA Network's Senior Manager of Racial and Economic Justice, pointed to issues that youth can work on like zero tolerance policies and harsh school discipline[5]. Policies like these disproportionately harm queer youth, low-income students, youth of color, and students with disabilities, and GSAs can play a key role in advocating for more commonsense discipline policies.

It was a great conversation, and a great day of celebration. Thank you, again, to the many wonderful GSA activists who joined in last week, and who continue to work every day to make your schools safer!